Archive for the ‘Home Improvements’ category

Are you an HGTV or DIY fanatic? If so, you have probably seen those episodes where they find an old cabinet at a flea market and turn it into a beautiful designer bathroom vanity or chest. If you are not familiar with this practice, it is easier than you think to recreate this look without having to pay those designer prices. You too can have those designer quality pieces you have seen in magazines and thought you could never afford in your Hoboken home for an affordable price.
To start the process, you want to scour local flea markets and antique sales for just the right piece of furniture that will work in the area of your home you plan to place it in. An old dresser, large nightstand, dressing table, or desks are all pieces of furniture that are used frequently. It is important before you buy your treasured find to measure the space that you plan to put it in so that you do not get it back and home and it does not fit.

Once you bring your find home, you want to examine the way it was constructed in detail. Is it held together with screws or wooden blocks? Things like this are what you will want to look for. If your purpose is to use it as a bathroom vanity, you want to carefully remove the top of it intact as this will make a great template for your new top. Next, cut a hole in the place on the back where the plumbing will go. Finally, level and shim your new piece into place until it is level. You want to be sure your new vanity is secure to the wall by screwing it into the studs on the wall.Choose a top to place on the vanity that will match your Hoboken home such as granite, marble or Corian. Do not forget to pick up a new sink to go with your new top.

If you are looking to buy or sell a home in the Hoboken area, contact me, Eddie Perez of ReMax Gold Coast Realty. You can reach me directly at (201) 344-2886 or check out my InvestHoboken website.

Paint industry forecasters are saying that homeowners will be very budget conscious when choosing paint for their home during 2011. Since painting your home is one of the best and inexpensive ways to update the look of your home the possibilities are endless.

Sherwin-Williams’ has introduced “Today’s Colors” 2011 by dividing colors into four palettes titled: Purely Refined, Bold Invention, Restless Nomad and Gentle Medley. The Purely Refined group includes muted blues, lilacs, greens, grays and understated neutrals. Bold Invention will bring you vivid greens, turquoises and blues, with an urban theme. You will find the Restless Nomad palette with dusky darks, bright pinks, reds and earthy food-influenced hues. If you are looking for a mix of earthy neutral tans combined with freshwater blue, mint green, copper and chartreuse pastels, Gentle Medley will be the answer to your paining needs.

Benjamin Moore has predicted that purple will be its most popular color in its 2011 line. With Vintage Wine as a popular color for wood finishes, leathers, linens and a variety of textiles.

Neutral colors will always be popular since homeowners look for beauty that they see in their daily lives and that will keep the neutral palette very popular.

For more information on the real estate market, visit www.realtor.org. For help in getting pre-qualified, as well as finding and closing on your perfect Hoboken home, contact Eddie Perez, Broker-REALTOR, CDPE. Eddie’s market includes Hoboken, a progressive city where they’re always coming up with new ways of making it a better place to live, Jersey City, Weehawken and Union City. Eddie can also be reached by phone at 201-344-2886.

Dust can really be a nuisance especially when you want to sell your Hoboken home and you need to keep it spotless. It can be a never-ending battle since dust can come from so many places. It has been said that the majority of dust in homes comes from outside, carried inside on shoes and clothing.

Surprisingly, there are also many inside sources of dust, including our own bodies, which shed hair and particles of skin. Fabrics also create dust by shedding bits of material. Forced-air heating and cooling systems and pets also contribute to the volume of dust in your home.

To take control over dust, the most important thing you can do is vacuum on a regular basis. A vacuum equipped with a HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) filter will reduce the amount of dust in your home. It’s important to regularly vacuum floors and rugs, but don’t forget about upholstery and bedding.

Be sure to place door mats at all of the entrances in your home to be able to wipe your shoes before entering. Don’t forget about closet floors, they can be major dust collectors so be sure to keep them clean.

When you dust furniture, use damp cloths or special dust-collecting wipes. Try not to use dry rags or a feather duster, since they will just move the dust from one surface to another.

For help in finding and closing on your perfect Hoboken home, contact Eddie Perez,Broker-REALTOR, CDPE. Eddie’s market includes Hoboken, a progressive city where they’re always coming up with new ways of making it a better place to live, Jersey City, Weehawken and Union City. Eddie can also be reached by phone at 201-344-2886.

Following are easy and inexpensive design ideas for decorating to make the most of the space in your home.

Mirrors

Hang a mirror high enough on the wall so it does not reflect the clutter of the room. Above eye level is best. If high wall placement is impossible, lean the mirror on a shelf or mantel so that it tips upward slightly. If the mirror is hung too low and reflects the contents of the room, it will make the room look smaller.

Add Light to Your Rooms

Make sure the window treatments you choose for a room are hung to let in as much light as possible. When curtains or blinds are open, they should clear the window so the light is not blocked. Even as little as an inch or two can make a difference.

Also, hang the window treatments as high on the wall as possible. This will create the illusion of a taller window and a larger light source, making the room seem to enlarge.

Window Treatments

Try to choose window treatments in a color that blends in with the wall color. This creates less contrast with the larger items in a room and makes the entire room appear more open.

Avoid Using Too Many Accessories

To avoid the look of clutter, only display a few larger scale pieces in a small room. A display cabinet or shelf is good for smaller collectibles. Remember to group smaller collectibles together so they will be seen from a distance as one item.

Change the Layout of Your Furniture

Try to place your furniture at an angle to the walls in the room. If this is impossible place a large area rug at an angle to the walls. This will draw the eye across the room to expand the space visually and will also make a room more interesting.

Clean up

Shine up all of the sleek surfaces in the room. Clean windows, stove fronts and countertops so they are free of dust and grime. This will brighten up any room and create the look of a larger space.

When selling a home in Hoboken be careful with the choice of colors you are using for your decor. The wrong colors could be sending the wrong messages to potential buyers.

Many feel that neutral beige or off-white walls are what sells listings, but many times it’s a touch of color that may be what you need to turn a buyer’s head in a listing that is slow to sell. Although, beige may be perfectly acceptable, the right color on a home’s walls, or the perfect color accessories can trigger positive physiological and psychological responses among potential buyers.

Many studies have been done on the impact of color in purchasing decisions.
The best color to get a buyer’s attention is green. During light-spectrum research that focused on treatments for season affective disorder, subjects exposed to green stated they were in the happiest moods, more so than any of the other subjects tested that were exposed to different colors.

Before you start to add green to the decor of your Hoboken home, take caution. Not all shades of green are the right way to go. It’s the lime greens, or any yellow-greens that will not fly with most buyers. It’s the medium shades of green such as sage that have gained popularity. Particularly, bedrooms painted in creamy tones of green – are good choice. Another good color choice beyond green, is buttery yellows, complemented with white trim accents.

If you’ve gone with beige, green or even purple, Eddie Perez can sell your colorful Hoboken home. Give Eddie a call today and have your home on the market sooner than you think.

For more information, contact Eddie Perez, Broker-REALTOR, CDPE. Eddie’s market includes Hoboken, Jersey City, Weehawken and Union City. Eddie can also be reached by phone at 201-344-2886.

If your house is on the market and does not have central air you could be part of a new trend.

Stan Cox has written an interesting new book, “Losing Our Cool. ”

Cox has recently been in the media speaking about the benefits of going without central air: lower energy consumption, greater sense of community (since everyone’s not shut inside in the air) and just getting outside to enjoy the true meaning of summer.

Perhaps you are one of the folks who rely on window air conditioning units and never felt the need to install central air in your home. If this may be the case you may find some of Cox’s tips on ways to keep cool.

If you have been patiently waiting to buy a Hoboken home, now is the time to do it. All of the key factors are in place to ensure that your home purchase will be a major, positive life changing event. With low mortgage rates now available, this is the opportunity you have been waiting for. Make 2010 the year you purchase your dream home. For more informationcontact Eddie Perez, Broker-REALTOR, CDPE. Eddie’s market includes Hoboken, Jersey City, Weehawken and Union City. Eddie can also be reached by phone at 201-344-2886.

Did you know you may be spending 20 percent of your utility budget on cooling costs? That’s what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has stated and is offering you tips on how to save money on this summer’s electric bill.

Following are suggestions from the EPA on how to keep your house cool:

• When no one is home, set the thermostat a few degrees higher so you are not wasting money cooling an empty house.

• Ceiling fans are meant to cool people, not an entire room, so don’t forget to turn off the fan when you leave the room.

• Don’t forget to close the curtains and shades before you go out since the sun could easily overheat the interior.

• Block sun-exposed windows with container trees and plants to create more shade.

• Use energy-efficient lighting to save money and produce about 75 percent less heat than incandescent lighting does.

• Have your cooling system serviced annually to make sure it is running effectively.

With the hot summer we have experienced in Hoboken It may be a good idea to take some of the above tips into consideration to save money on your electric bill.

For more great reasons to buy a Hoboken home in 2010, please click on The Best Time to Buy a Home is Now!If you have been patiently waiting to buy a Hoboken home, now is the time to do it. All of the key factors are in place to ensure that your home purchase will be a major, positive life changing event. With low mortgage rates now available, this is the opportunity you have been waiting for. Make 2010 the year you purchase your dream home. For more information contact Eddie Perez, Broker-REALTOR, CDPE. Eddie’s market includes Hoboken, Jersey City, Weehawken and Union City. Eddie can also be reached by phone at 201-344-2886.